Bonnie Crombie is taking a leave of absence from her position as Mississauga mayor while she runs for the Ontario Liberal Party leadership.
The Mayor’s office told Now Toronto that Crombie’s last day will be on Oct. 6.
“I can confirm that Mayor Crombie informed her Council yesterday that she will be taking an unpaid leave of absence as the Mayor of Mississauga as she undertakes her bid to become the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party,” a representative said in an email on Crombie’s behalf.
“In her absence, the City will operationalize the Acting Mayor By-law, which will see Councillors rotate as Acting Head of Council on 2 month rotations to fulfill mayoral duties,” the statement also said.
The Mayor will spend the next few weeks working with the City Manager to review key priorities for Council, including the 2024 City Budget.
Mayor Crombie said she has full “confidence that Mississaugans are in good hands and that Council will continue to press forward on the issues that matter most to them including affordability, housing, transit and climate change.”
“The Mayor thanks everyone for their support and will continue to keep Mississauga’s priorities top of mind as she embarks on her leadership bid,” the statement concluded.
Crombie was elected mayor of Mississauga in 2014 and was re-elected twice, once in 2018 and again in 2022.
She officially entered the race for Ontario Liberal Party leadership in June of this year.
The first of five scheduled party debates takes place today in Thunder Bay at 7 p.m., followed by Stratford, on Oct. 1, Toronto Oct. 24, Ottawa Nov. 8, and Brampton on either Nov. 18 or 19, according to the official party website.
Former Ontario Liberal Party leader Steven De Luca stepped down in 2022 after losing the Vaughan-Woodbridge riding in the provincial election, John Fraser has been acting as interim leader since then.
The up-coming leadership vote will take place in early December, where Crombie will run against Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Ted Hsu, Yasir Naqvi, and Adil Shamji.
Prior to her leave of absence, Crombie declared her commitment not only to citizens of Mississauga but to the entire province.
“Every day I speak with Ontarians, in Mississauga, the GTA and across the province, and I hear how they are facing the challenges of living in our province. I believe that the government can play a role in addressing the concerns that people have about issues like healthcare, education, and affordability,” she said on her website.
